Christine Dakin: Peter C. Cook
Clarence Brooks: #billykiddstudio

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble will be joined at our upcoming Philly Fringe performances (ENVISIONS, Sept 9&10) by two extraordinary guest artists, Christine Dakin and Clarence Brooks. Ms. Dakin will portray Frida in Anna Sokolow’s homage to Frida Kahlo, and Mr. Brooks will play the Threatened Assassin in Sokolow’s Magritte, Magritte.

CHRISTINE DAKIN, dancer — teacher — director, a foremost exponent of the Martha Graham repertory and technique, is known for her performances of Ms. Graham’s roles and for those created for her by Martha Graham and artists such as Robert Wilson, Twyla Tharp and Martha Clarke. Performing in the principal theaters of the world, partnered by renowned artists such as Rudolf Nureyev and filmed in the repertory, she was chosen by Graham for the company in 1976. Dakin became Associate Artistic Director in 1997 and was named Artistic Director with Terese Capucilli in 2002. Leading the company to its rebirth, they are credited with  bringing the artistic excellence and repertory of the Company to a level not seen since Martha Graham’s  death and were named Artistic Directors Laureate. 

Dakin was honored by the dance community with the Dance Magazine Award (1994), a “Bessie”  Performance Award (2003) and the Labat Loano Italy Grand Prix “Giuliana Penzi” 2015 Career Award. She  was awarded the Evelyn Green Fellowship at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study  (2007/08), was a Fulbright Senior Scholar (1999), and recipient of grants from CEC ArtsLink (1996). Fluent  in French and Spanish, Ms. Dakin was awarded two Rockefeller U.S. Mexico Fund for Culture Grants (1998,  2002) and a grant from the Mexico’s Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (2000) for choreography,  teaching and research.  

Performer and teacher in Mexico since 1981, with the Centro Nacional de Danza Contemporánea and  Ballet Nacional de México in Querétaro (Director Guillermina Bravo), in Merida, Yucatán with the Instituto  de Cultura and Compañía de Danza Contemporánea de Yucatán, (Director Graciella Torres Polanco), she  is guest artist and faculty advisor at the Universidad de Colima and its Ballet Folklórico (Director Rafael  Zamarripa) and contemporary company, Univerdanza (Directors Adriana Leon and Alejandro Vera),  Universidad de Veracruz, Xalapa, guest artist with the company Ciudad Interior, (Director Alejandro  Chavéz), and was Choreographic Guide for Encuentro de Creación Coreográfica EnTiempoReal2017.  Dakin produces and performs work by contemporary Mexican choreographers including Jaime Blanc,  Brice Mousset and Alejandro Chávez. 

On the faculty of The Juilliard School, 1993 to 2003, she is currently faculty at The Neighborhood  Playhouse School of the Theatre, at the Ailey School in New York, and is a guest teacher for the Alvin Ailey  American Dance Theater. Dakin is a founding member of Buglisi Dance Theatre (1993.)  

Ms. Dakin has written and directed several films including La Voz del Cuerpo/The Body Speaks: the personal poetics of a Martha Graham dancer, created in collaboration with American and Mexican dancers and  musicians, exploring the work and creative life of a dancer. Official Selection of 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival and Golden Door International Film Festival, 2014 NewFilmmakers New York,  it has been shown at the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca, Mexico, for International Day of Dance UNESCO in Barcelona, and for university audiences in the US and Mexico. 

Educated at the University of Michigan, Ms. Dakin is the recipient of the University of Michigan Alumni  Award (2001), an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Shenandoah University (1996), and an Honorary  Doctorate from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico (2007).

Read Mysterious Ways — An Interview with Christine Dakin. 

For more information about Ms. Dakin’s long career and current projects, visit christinedakin.com.

CLARENCE BROOKS. an associate professor and director of dance at Florida Atlantic University, founded Dances We Dance, the student dance company, and the Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble, the University’s resident professional dance company. The Ensemble has performed in festivals from Miami to Boston including Rebound Dance Festival (New Haven), NewGrounds (Tampa), Inkub8 (Miami), Green Street Studio (Cambridge), Daniel Lewis Miami Dance Sampler (Miami), and Piccolo Spoleto (Charleston).

Mr. Brooks has performed with more than 70 American companies and toured the USA, Europe, and Asia working with Nikolais & Murray Louis Dance Company, Marcus Schulkind Dance Company, Loyce Houlton’s Minnesota Dance Theater, Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, Ohio Ballet, and Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project at prestigious venues like the Paris Opera, Joyce Theater, American Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Mr. Brooks can be seen in the video documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais and his essay “Dancing with the Issues” was published in One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories (Alyson Books).

Awards and honors include induction into the OCU Performance Hall of Honor, two Associate Artist-in-Residences at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Japan Foundation Fellowship, and recipient of the Clyde Fyfe Award and the Randolph A. Frank Prize for Performing Arts. The Library of Congress recorded Mr. Brooks performing Talley Beatty’s seminal solo “Mourner’s Bench”(1947) for the national archive. A founding member and past president of the Florida Dance Education Organization, he holds an advisory position with FDEO and sits on the boards of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics, and Doris Humphrey Foundation.

A high school dropout, Mr. Brooks holds an MFA (University of Washington/Seattle), a bachelor of performing arts (Oklahoma City University), and a certification in Laban Movement Analysis (Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies). A 200-hour yoga teacher and National Registered Dance Educator, he is certified to teach the Bill Evans Method of Teaching Dance Technique. Mr. Brooks continues to tour freelancing with Dance Exchange (DC), Pioneer Winter Collective (Miami), Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble (NY), and David Parker & The Bang Group (NY). In his free time, he enjoys biking, kayaking, hiking, camping (tent), and traveling.

 

ENVISIONS
Friday, Sept 9, 2022 at 7 pm
Saturday, Sept 10 at 3 pm and 7 pm
Performance Garage
1515 Brandywine St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(Map)
Adults $30
(Mask and proof of vaccination required for admission.)